/// Video Is the Future of Social

This past spring, at the YouTube Upfronts in New York City, Google vice president Robert Kyncl stood in front of a packed audience of brand marketers and made a seemingly simple, but revelatory, declaration: “ TV is one-way. YouTube talks back .” What is happening on YouTube and on places like Vine (which is doubling monthly average users month over month) and Instagram, is something that many of us who study the social Web have known for some time: Video is the future of social. Why video? Why not text or photos — permanent or ephemeral? Is it simply the combination of sight, sound and motion? The clues to the answer are all around us. This past week, news of the tragic death of actor Paul Walker sparked tens of thousands of people to reach out on social media to express pain and sadness, and send prayers to his family and friends. For a 48-hour period, Twitter was trending with the news, and Facebook feeds were crowded with thoughts and condolences. As activity on Facebook and Twitter waned, the heartfelt vigils have continued to grow on YouTube, where more than 6,000 tribute videos had been uploaded within 100 hours of the tragedy. These beautiful videos, along with news videos of the tragedy found on YouTube, have touched more than 170 million people. Ultimately, the tribute videos will live forever, and will be added to the vast collection of images from the star’s “Fast & Furious” movie franchise, which an audience of more than six million fans enjoy monthly on the platform. This social media outpouring on YouTube highlights the fact that the shelf life of a Tweet or a Facebook post is now vanishingly small, evidenced by the fact that a Facebook post gets half its reach within 30 minutes of being published. By comparison, more than half of YouTube videos’ lifetime views come after three weeks of uploading. Take a look at any popular video from any year, and you’ll find recent comments that continue the conversation well into the future. Yes, Facebook and Twitter are driving some of the extended activity on YouTube videos. As of last year, Facebook is driving more than 500 years of YouTube viewing every day, and on Twitter, more than 700 YouTube videos are shared every minute. But the fact is that one minute of watching, creating, sharing or commenting on a video is one minute less to engage in other social mediums

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Talk NYC/WW is your daily download of the tech, marketing and advertising news you need to know. It’s smartly curated to keep you up to speed on the innovators and innovations that are shaking up the digital world today.

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About Talk NYC

Talk NYC/WW is your daily download of the tech, marketing and advertising news you need to know. It’s smartly curated to keep you up to speed on the innovators and innovations that are shaking up the digital world today.